JUNE 2019 NEWS Above: Our Britannia Cup crew for Henley Royal Regatta training on the Yarra River News covered this month • Australia and Mercs dominate at WCII • Mercs members thrive at World Cup II • More Mercs members into the U23 Australian team • Mercs at World Cup II at Poznan this week • Member in the news – Drew Ginn • Australian Junior four trains from Mercs • Older Mercantile members celebrate end of financial year • Bridie O’Donnell hosts the Australian U23 coxed four • New Foundation Donation Form • Josh Dunckley-Smith interviewed for Rowing Australia • Member Profiles – Alan Henry • Mercantile wins the Senior Premiership • David Crawshay inducted into the Victorian Rowing Hall of Fame • Martin and Susan Owen Donation • Foundation’s Frederico Fund reaches $1 mil • So what happens at the Club at 6am on a Saturday morning? • From the vaults- Michael Caldwell shares photos from 1960s • New communications for members ______________________________________________________________________________ Australia and Mercs dominate WCII Published 23rd June 2019 Mercs members walked away from World Cup II with two gold medals, one silver and two bronze medals – what a night. Australia topped the medal tally and Jess Morrison won gold in the eight and doubled up to win silver in the pair. Jess Morrison second from left takes silver in the pair Put simply, Australia dominated the racing at this World Cup at Poznan in Poland and Mercs members were a big part of it. Amanda Bateman (right) picks up a bronze in the double • ML1x Gold – Sean Murphy • WL1x Bronze – Georgia Nesbitt • PR1M1x Silver – Eric Horrie • W2 Silver – Jess Morrison and Annabelle McIntyre • M2 Gold – Alex Hill and Josh Booth • W2x Bronze – Amanda Bateman and Gen Horton – too slow in 2nd 500m • M2x Fifth – Cam Watts and Hamish Playfair • W4x Fourth – Bow: Fiona Ewing, 2: Cara Grzeskowwiak, 3: Rowena Meredith, Str: Katrina Bateman • W4 Bronze – Olympia Aldersey, Katrina Werry, Sarah Hawe, Lucy Stephan • M4 Gold – Tim Masters, Nick Purnell, Jack Hargreaves, Joseph O’Brien • LM2x Bronze – Hamish Parry, Leon Chambers • LW2x 14th – Sarah Pound and Alice Arch • M4x Silver – David Watts, Alexander Purnell, Cameron Girdlestone and Caleb Antill • W8 – Gold – Leah Saunders, Jacinta Edmunds, Bronwyn Cox, Georgina Rowe, Rosie Popa, Annabelle McIntyre, Jess Morrison, Molly Goodman, Cox: James Rook • M8 Fifth – Liam Donald, Rob Black, Angus Moore, Joshua Hicks, Spencer Turrin, Simon Keenan, James Medway, Gus Widdicombe, Cox: Brodie Kendal Kat Werry (back second from end) picks up a bronze in the four ______________________________________________________________________________ Mercs Members thrive at World Cup II Published 23rd June 2019 It is finals day today and our Mercs members are doing well. All our members are into the A finals. The Women’s Pair of Jessica Morrison and Annabelle McIntyre established a definitive lead in their semi-final to book a place into the A-Final tomorrow. They crossed the line in a time of 7 minutes 32 seconds setting themselves up for what will no doubt be a great battle with their Trans-Tasman rivals, Kerri Gowler and Grace Prendergast, who won the other semi-final. Amanda Bateman and Genevieve Horton finished third in their Women’s Double Scull semi-final, securing Bateman her first Senior team World Rowing Cup A-Final. The Women’s Four containing Katrina Werry won their semi-final to book A-Finals berths for Sunday. Kay Werry in the bow seat of the women’s four off the start The final repechage of the day for Australia was that of the Men’s Eight, with the crew finishing in second and booking an A-Final berth alongside Canada, New Zealand, Italy and the already qualified Germany and Great Britain. The eight includes Gus Widdicombe and Liam Donald. The women’s eight had previously won their heat and are straight through to the final. The women’s eight includes Jess Morrison who is doubling up in the pair and is coxed by James Rook. Katrina Bateman is in the quad which is a first and final. A-Final race times for the Australian Rowing Team at World Rowing Cup 2 – Sunday 23 June 2019 • PR1 Men’s Single Scull (Horrie): 18:51 AEST (10:51 local time) • Women’s Pair (Morrison and McIntyre): 19:08 AEST (11:08 local time) • Men’s Pair (Booth and Hill): 19:22 AEST (11:22 local time) • Women’s Double Scull (A Bateman and Horton): 19:52 AEST (11:52 local time) • Men’s Double Scull (Playfair and C Watts): 20:06 AEST (12:06 local time) • Women’s Four (Aldersey, Werry, Hawe and Stephan): 20:20 AEST (12:20 local time) • Men’s Four (Masters, N Purnell, Hargreaves and O’Brien): 20:34 AEST (12:34 local time) • Lightweight Men’s Double Scull (Parry and Chambers): 21:03 AEST (13:03 local time) • Women’s Quadruple Scull (Ewing, Grzeskowiak, Meredith and K Bateman): 21:31 AEST (13:31 local time) • Men’s Quadruple Scull (Antill, Girdlestone, A Purnell and D Watts): 21:45 AEST (13:45 local time) • Men’s Eight (Donald, Black, Medway, Hicks, Turrin, Keenan, Moore, Widdicombe and Brodie): 21:59 AEST (13:59 local time) • Women’s Eight (Saunders, Edmunds, Cox, Rowe, Popa, McIntyre, Morrison, Goodman and Rook): 22:43 AEST (14:43 local time) ______________________________________________________________________________ More Mercs members into the U23 Australian team Published 19th June 2019 Rowing Australia has today announced another under 23 crew for the U23 World Championships, and it includes a Mercs member based in California – Imogen Purcell. The full crew is as follows: Alexandra Nothdurft The Ohio State University/Commercial RC/QLD Jane Perrignon University of California, Berkeley/Griffith University Surfer’s Paradise RC/QLD Imogen Purcell University of California, LA/Mercantile RC/VIC Sarah Tisdall Harvard/University of Queensland BC/QLD Coxswain: TBC Coach: Annabelle Eaton St Kevin’s College/VIC Rowing Australia also reports that the selectors are currently undertaking further trialling of an U23 Men’s Eight, with a decision on whether a crew is selected to be finalised on 30 June. However rumour has it that Jack Robertson has been selected in the Men’s 8+. Jack is studying at Uni of California (Berkeley) and Alex Wolf flies out to Princeton tomorrow as reserve for the M8+. Someone is injured so there is a chance Alex will be selected. These rumours are not yet confirmed but sound promising. ______________________________________________________________________________ Mercs at World Cup II at Poznan this week Published 18th June 2019 Mercs has top ranked Jessica Morrison racing in both the number one ranked sweep boat, the pair, and then doubling up in the eight with James Rook who is coxing that boat. Katrina Werry is in the four, Katrina Bateman in the quad, Amanda Bateman in the double and Gus Widdicombe and Liam Donald are in the men’s eight. Best wishes to them all. Jess Morrison at the Nationals The following report comes from the Rowing Australia website. 17 Australian crews set to compete in Poznan, Poland from 21 to 23 June The Australian Rowing Team will begin its World Rowing Cup campaign later this week with the team set to field 17 crews at World Rowing Cup 2. The regatta will run from 21 to 23 June on Lake Malta, in Poznan, Poland. The majority of the Australian Rowing Team was announced in March this year, with the selectors having now finalised their sweep crews for World Rowing Cup 2. 2016 Rio Olympic silver medallists from the Men’s Four, Alexander Hill and Joshua Booth, have been selected into the Men’s Pair, while two-time World Rowing Champion, Jack Hargreaves, is joined in the Men’s Four by Nicholas Purnell, Timothy Masters and Jack O’Brien. The Men’s Eight has seen two-time World Champions, in the Men’s Four, Spencer Turrin and Joshua Hicks, join its ranks. The duo are joined in the crew by Angus Widdicombe, James Medway, Angus Moore, Robert Black, Simon Keenan, Liam Donald and coxswain Kendall Brodie. Meanwhile, in the women’s sweep, Annabelle McIntyre and Olympian Jessica Morrison will combine to race the Women’s Pair, before then joining the Women’s Eight. The new look Eight for 2019, sees 2018 World Rowing Championships silver medallist, Molly Goodman, in the stroke seat, with the South Australian joined by Leah Saunders, Jacinta Edmunds, Bronwyn Cox, Georgina Rowe, Rosemary Popa and coxswain James Rook. The Women’s Four for World Rowing Cup 2, features 2018 World Rowing Championships silver medallists in the boat class – Lucy Stephan, Sarah Hawe and Katrina Werry – with the trio joined by Olympia Aldersey. Rowing Australia Performance Director Bernard Savage said, “We’re looking forward to the team competing in its first World Rowing Cup of the season. The men and women arrived at the AIS European Training Centre last week, joining up with para-rowing World Champion Erik Horrie, with the group settling in well to our European training base. “We’ve a big team that is excited to get out there and get racing against the rest of the world. This is our first major event (for our non-para-rowers) on the world stage ahead of what is going to be a big year for the Australian Rowing Team with the World Rowing Championships coming up in August – an event that doubles as Olympic and Paralympic qualification.” To see the complete list of crews, please click through here. Rowing Australia will be sharing daily racing updates, and can provide images to the media as required. Audio commentary and finals live-streaming can be accessed via www.worldrowing.com. ______________________________________________________________________________ Members in the news – Drew Ginn Published 17th June 2019 The Age has reported today that Drew Ginn and Ben Oliver have been given responsibility for managing the Cricket Australia high performance program.